Grain bags, typically made from plastic, are becoming popular for storing grain including corn, beans, and like agricultural produce. The bags come in packages that are attached to a loading machine which receives grain from a transport vehicle, and pushes the grain into the bag. As the bag fills, the machine moves ahead, such that the grain bag fills and stretches out behind the loading machine. A typical bag will be about nine feet across, and 200 or more feet long. The width of the loaded bag will vary somewhat, depending on the grain that is being stored.
To unload the bag, an extractor machine is provided that includes feed augers extending laterally right and left along the ground from the input end of a main auger. The main auger is oriented at an angle such that the discharge end is located at an elevated position to one side of the machine so that the main auger can discharge into a transport vehicle. The main auger is typically folded down for transport. In some machines the feed augers can be pivoted rearward to adjust the distance between the outer ends of the feed augers to match the width of the bag.
Thus to unload a bag, the end of the bag is cut open and the feed augers moved to the correct spread to fit the bag. In one type of extractor machine, the wheels of the machine drive over the inside of the bag, which is left on the ground. The machine moves rearward as the grain is collected by the feed augers and raised to the transport vehicle by the main auger. A knife at the top rear of the machine is oriented to slice the top of the bag as the machine moves rearward, and as the grain is removed the empty bag is pushed to each side of the machine, and the wheels of the machine pass over the inside of the bag.
In another type of extractor machine, the bag is taken up on a roller. Again, the machine moves rearward as the grain is collected by the feed augers and raised to the transport vehicle by the main auger. A knife at the top rear of the machine is oriented to slice the top of the bag as the machine moves rearward, and as the grain is removed the empty bag is rolled up onto a roller at the front end of the machine. By rolling up the bag as the machine moves rearward, any grain left on the floor of the bag by the feeder augers is dumped rearward as the floor is raised by the roller. Thus there is substantially no wasted grain, and no clean up required. The empty bag must be removed from the roller periodically.
Such extractor machines can also be used for moving grain that is simply piled on the ground, or in a shed if access is sufficient.